Land saved, history preserved

Mariano Medina came up from the south hoping to make his way as a fur trader. Go into the Loveland Museum and you'll see a display dedicated to this hearty Hispanic man. "He was a known man," historian Bill Meirath said of Medina's status on the Front Range during the last half of the 1800s. Medina moved to northern Colorado in 1858. He was buried in his family plot 20 years later. That plot was to become a source controversy. Decades ago, the local mortician moved most of the bodies to another site. But Meirath, using pictorial and testimonial evidence, concluded Medina's body was likely left undisturbed. Over time, the cemetery disappeared into the landscape; the only remnants being large rocks from the stone wall that once wrapped around the gravestones. "It's a historically important site in Loveland and Larimer County," said Jason LaBelle, a CSU professor of archeology. This past year he and several students mapped out where exactly the cemetery sat. Despite the site's historical importance, it never received protection from development, a fact that had Meirath worried. "It just shouldn't be mucked with," he said. "It just shouldn't be." Jess Rodriguez, a land developer, recently bought the plot on which the cemetery rests. The land is just south of Namaqua Park in southwest Loveland. After the purchase, Meirath approached Rodriguez with his pitch: develop everything but this small piece of land under which Loveland's first settler may rest. Rodriguez happily agreed. "There's definitely a connection there," said Rodriguez, who is Latino. "I'm taking pride in making sure this site is handled properly." The decision left Meirath elated. "More than I ever dreamed of," he said. "It was unbelievable." Meirath and Rodriguez are thinking of turning the cemetery into a small park where visitors can learn more about the hearty man who called the land of Loveland home. This story is one of several produced by 9NEWS in recognition of National Hispanic Awareness Month.